Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. ·Jun,28,   2002

friendship Kazakhstan can expect from the United States, and it depends on moving from repression to free expression, from dictatorship to democracy, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Lorne Craner told a Senate hearing yesterday. America appreciates the assistance it has received in Central Asia for the war against terror, but “a broadening of cooperation” with human rights violators like Kazakhstan will not be possible unless the government adopts “political reforms that will allow the emergence of democratic institutions.” Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Balancing Military Assistance and Support for Human Rights in Central Asia, Craner accused the Nazarbayev regime of seeking to “intimidate political opposition leaders and the independent media.” Such efforts, he added, “raise serious questions about the safety of the independent media in Kazakhstan” The U.S. government plans to encourage democracy by increasing support for political party development work in Kazakhstan and hopes to sponsor an extensive training program for independent journalists in the region. “This program will train and support journalists to increase coverage of human rights issues, allowing them to monitor human rights abuses and expose corruption in the region, providing the information citizens need to judge those in authority,” Craner told the subcommittee on Central Asia, chaired by Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey. http://www.state.gov/

CONGRESSMAN RAPS NAZARBAYEV INTOLERANCE -- Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev has persistently violated his own “repeated assurances to President Bush and the international community that he would preserve an independent media and free expression for the citizens of Kazakhstan,” charged U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan. He accused Nazarbayev of making “a concerted effort to shut down his opposition by denying dissent voices any means of expression” as he “put political opponents in jail and driven others into exile.” In a speech in the Congressional Record, the Massachusetts lawmaker urged the Bush administration to “press for a resumption of a free press and tolerant government in Kazakhstan.” He warned President Bush not to allow the Kazakh oil fields to blind him to “Nazarbayev's ongoing assault against the liberties of the men and women of Kazakhstan.” http://thomas.loc.gov/r107/r107.html

ONE-PARTY STATE -- President Nazarbayev’s puppet parliament has helped him accelerate the country’s turn away from democracy by sending him legislation that will virtually make Kazakhstan a Soviet-style one-party state. Ostensibly it tightens the rules for registering political parties by raising minimum membership from 3,000 to 50,000. Critics say the result will be to drive most opposition parties underground and decimate the country’s beleaguered democratic forces, which already face continuing pressure, harassment and persecution from the regime. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/top_stories/, http://www.rferl.org/bd/ka/

TRADING SECRETS ­ The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and its Kazakh counterpart, the National Security Committee, have signed an agreement to share information about wanted or suspected criminals and terrorists. http://www.interfax news.com/

For the full stories, see the web citations above or contact us at News@Kazakhstan21.org. The Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation promotes democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan through public affairs and educational programs in the United States and Europe. This material is distributed by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice,  Washington, D.C.